Tyler Flockhart

Research from the University of Guelph that pinpointed the North American birthplaces of migratory monarch butterflies was featured Jan. 16 in Canadian Geographic and by CBC and Yahoo! News Jan. 14.

Tyler Flockhart, the lead author and Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow at U of G, and Prof. Ryan Norris, Integrative Biology, hope their work will lead to a multinational conservation effort to help the dwindling species.

Ryan Norris

The researchers analyzed “chemical fingerprints” in the wings of butterflies collected as far back as the mid-1970s to learn where monarchs migrate within North America each autumn.

They expected to find that the vast majority of monarch butterflies come from the Midwestern states, but less than 40 per cent were from that region. Conservation efforts focusing only on that area will miss a large number of butterflies born elsewhere in North America, the study said.  Read more

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